Wet Skoolbooks
by JoeMerl
Summary: Gretchen and Dib have a nice-if awkward-conversation as the two walk home together. Tie-in to "Dib in the PITS" and "Just Perfect," but can be read alone.


Hello, fanfiction people. So, I originally wrote this story as a "bonus chapter" for my story "Dib in the PITS," but, after much thought, I decided to post as a one-shot instead. I was a bit hesitant, but in the end I figured that a.) most of this story could be understood without reading "PITS," and b.) it could serve kind of as advertising for that story. If you like this, feel free to check the full story out, plus my other "spin-off," "Just Perfect," which also stars Gretchen. :-)

Anyway, this is basically Chapter Thirteen of "PITS" told from Gretchen's point of view, rather than Dib's. As I said, this can basically be understood by anyone, although the ending will seem a bit random; to remedy that, I put a "break" near the end of the story that marks what will seem "normal" to a non-"PITS" reader. Feel free to read past it, though; that way, you'll feel compelled to go and read the "PITS" story too. (Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.)

Anyway, this explanation has been too long, I hope you enjoy! :-D

* * *

The lights were all out at Keef's house when Gretchen got there, and though she knocked for five minutes, nobody ever came to the door. Which was kind of strange, she thought--usually even if Keef was out, his equally-chipper mom or little brother or somebody would be there to answer the door, invite her in and not allow her to leave for an hour, after asking for every tiny detail about her life since they last spoke and offering plate after plate of homemade cookies/cake/pie/whatever Keef's mom had made most recently. And somebody should be home if Keef really was sick; maybe he had been out of skool for some other reason?

Finally Gretchen sighed and realized nobody was coming, so she turned and made her way back down the street towards her house. She was a bit disappointed; she had kind of been looking forward to seeing Keef. Skool had been a bit lonely without him...

"That was too dangerous."

"Oh, Rodger..."

The pair of kids walking a few feet in front of her were talking to each other in low voices, occasionally loud enough for her to hear. A girl Gretchen's age and a younger boy. In the dim light she thought that they looked vaguely familiar...where had Gretchen seen them before?

The boy hissed something softly at the girl, who responded, "It _was_ important, Rodger. Thanks to this, we now know--"

"--but what if _they_ know--"

"Calm down, okay, before the whole neighborhood hears you. Let's just get home, or we're going to be late..."

The pair turned a corner and disappeared. Gretchen's route took her a different direction home.

She was walking slowly, in no real hurry, watching the last tiny bits of sunlight vanish and the stars peek to life in the sky. She gave a small sigh and paused, taking a step off the sidewalk onto the grass, clutching her skoolbooks to her chest. She could take her time getting home...her parents knew how Keef's family was, they probably wouldn't expect her home for hours.

Somebody passed her on the sidewalk. She didn't even realize who it was until she heard the familiar voice, muttering to himself as always. She did a double-take.

"Hey--Dib?"

"Agh!"

He jumped and spun around, holding up his hands in almost a karate-type motion. He blinked. "Gretchen?"

She stepped forward, into the glow of a streetlamp. "Hey, Dib," she repeated, and winced as her voice rose into a squeak. Then she blinked. "Hey, where's your trench coat?"

"Long story," he grumbled, lowering his hands from their attack position and crossing them moodily over his chest.

"Okay," she said, not wanting to press for too much information. _That's probably why I didn't recognize him at first,_ Gretchen thought. That one article of clothing seemed to completely change his appearance. He seemed much more approachable than normal, less distant, if a bit more grouchy. As she looked closer she realized what remained of his usual outfit--the blue T-shirt and black pants--were torn, burned and tattered. He looked like he had just been in a fight. Gretchen had a pretty good guess who it might have been with.

Gretchen took a few tentative steps forward, then suddenly stumbled on a break in the sidewalk; she let out a cry and began to fall. Dib, suddenly and instinctively, grabbed her by the shoulders; the books flew out of her hands and splashed in a nearby puddle.

"Oh!" Gretchen cried, all breath torn out of her lungs. It only lasted a second, though; he quickly put her back up again, taking his hands away as if nothing had happened. She swayed on her feet as Dib bent down to pick up her books. They were dripping with water.

"Er, these don't look too good," he said sheepishly, holding them up for her to see.

"Oh...that's alright," she said, her heart skipping strangely in her chest. She reached out to take them from him. He began to hand them back, then faltered.

"You know what? Why don't I just carry them for you. Your house is on my way home anyway."

"Oh!" Gretchen felt her face burn. She turned away slightly, trying to hide it. "Alright, then," she said breathlessly.

The two made their way down the sidewalk, Dib holding the wet books away from his body, Gretchen looking slightly away, mind working feverishly.

_Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh. Dib Membrane is walking me home. And he's carrying my books. Oh man. What does this mean? Does this means he likes me? No...no, he's probably just being nice. But then, if he's being nice that means he likes me, right? Oh man, I don't know what to do...what do I say? _

Dib cleared his throat awkwardly. Gretchen jumped slightly at the noise.

"So, um...what's new?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, her voice a bit squeaky again. "I was just over at Keef's house...remember he's been out the last couple of days? I was going to deliver his homework."

_What? Don't say that, you idiot! The boy you're in love with is walking you home, carrying your books, and you tell him you were at another boy's house? You're going to give him the wrong idea! Idiot!_

"How is he?" Dib wondered. To Gretchen's surprise, he seemed sincerely interested; Dib was one of many kids that Keef had "clung" to at one point or another, but if anything she would have thought that would have made him happy to hear he was sick. Aside from Gretchen, Keef didn't have many "real" friends.

"Actually, he wasn't there."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, nobody was. I knocked and nobody ever answered. Maybe they went out of town, or something...I don't know, it's kind of weird that he didn't mention it, though."

"Yeah, Keef's definitely not the kind of person to keep a secret," Dib said wryly. He shrugged. "Oh well. I was just kind of wondering because he's part of my paranormal investigators' club, and--"

He cut off suddenly and winced. So did Gretchen.

"Oh," she said simply. "Yeah, I think he had mentioned something about that..."

She was suddenly reminded of the events of just a few days previously, when she and Keef had first seen that flier advertising Dib's paranormal investigators' club. Keef, of course, had been excited to go; any chance to be around people and make some new friends. Gretchen had agonized over the idea, desperately wondering whether to go or not. In the end, she hadn't. She had spent the last few days cursing herself for that.

Dib chuckled nervously. "Uh, yeah. You probably think it's crazy though, right?" Despite the chuckle, Gretchen was taken aback by the sudden harshness of his voice.

"What? Oh, no! Well...I mean, it sounded pretty...interesting." She looked down at her feet. "Actually," she froze, and then, in a rush, "I was...even thinking about coming to that meeting you had on Monday."

Dib looked shocked. "Really?" A second's pause. "Why didn't you?"

"Oh..." She shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes. "Just busy that day," she lied.

Dib was silent for a moment. Then, "So, are you interested in the paranormal?"

"What? Oh, I don't know..."

"But you said you were interested in joining my club."

Gretchen made a noise, something like a nervous cough. Dib looked away. "So, you think I'm crazy too?" he asked, sounding a bit irked again. "You don't believe that Zim's an alien, or any of that stuff?"

_Oh man. This isn't going right at all_. She struggled with something to say. "If I ever _did_meet an alien in my life," she said, slowly and carefully, "it would be Zim."

Dib was silent. He looked at her; she managed not to look away this time. Her insides were squirming, but she realized she was talking to Dib more than she ever had before in her life. Again, she thought about his missing trench coat--he looked so much less cool without it, yet somehow, much easier to talk to, even if it still was a bit hard.

The Dib shrugged. "Well, you know, maybe you could come for our next meeting. There's no rule saying you can't join a little late."

"Oh!" That thought had never occurred to Gretchen. She felt her stomach twist into a knot. "Maybe," she said noncommittally, her agony from last Monday suddenly returning in full force.

They walked again in silence. Finally Gretchen stopped and cleared her throat. "Well, this is my house," she said, looking up briefly at the large home above them and then slightly at the ground.

"What?" Dib had been lost in his reveries for several minutes. "Oh. Okay," he said, awkwardly. "Here." He held out Gretchen's wet books; she took them, unconsciously careful not to touch Dib's actual hands. She thought she would faint if she did. "It was, uh...nice talking to you."

"You too," Gretchen said. This time she did look away.

And with that, she turned and went into her house.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As soon as she was in she went to the living room window, peeking out; she saw Dib turn and slowly walk away, talking to himself as usual. She let out a slow, breathless sigh. Her mind was buzzing.

She turned back to the house, walking towards the kitchen. "Mom? Dad? I'm home."

She turned into the kitchen. Nobody was there.

"Hmm." She turned and walked down the hallway, past the fancy antique furniture and the pictures on the walls, showing her strangely good-looking parents with her placed incongruously in the middle.

"Mom? Dad?" She peeked into their open bedroom door. It was empty. "Where are you guys?"

She heard a bumping noise coming from her room. She turned and went that way.

"Mom? Are you in there? I--_AGH!"_

She saw her mother through purple as she was sucked into the..._thing_ standing in her room.

Gretchen screamed. The thing spun around, its one red eye widening, its tentacle of an arm shooting out to grab her. Gretchen turned, screaming, and ran out of the room, the thing squeezing through the door in pursuit.


End file.
